In an air ambulance, if there’s one person that the patients and the crew trust their lives with, it’s the pilot. However, in an incident, which is now being investigated by Federal Aviation Administration, it was reported that the pilot fell asleep while on an air ambulance. More dangerous was the fact that he was the only pilot at the controls of the medical flight.
The helicopter was en route to a Boston hospital after having taken off from Martha’s Vineyard. The incident occurred last month, on June 24th.
The Air Ambulance Pilot Missed the Landing Spot
It is believed that the pilot missed the designated landing site of the hospital and in fact, overflew quite a bit before realizing it. He then had to make his way back to the hospital’s helipad where he managed to land the air ambulance without any untoward incident.
There were absolutely no injuries to the occupants of the medical flight and there was no damage appreciated to the helicopter. The air ambulance belonged to Boston MedFlight and its CEO made an announcement conveying that all was well in the end.
Fatigue Played a Part
The CEO of the company, Maura Hughes, revealed that fatigue had a lot to do with what transpired. The official also assured that it was an isolated incident that occurred mid air. The organization is now looking at ways to better manage fatigue of its employees.
According to their company website, they conduct about five flights in a day on an average. It has been in business for over three decades and has the distinction of carrying around more than 75,000 patients. MedFlight is a non-profit organization.
It was reported that the pilot in question is no longer a part of the organization. One vital question that remains unanswered, however, is what led to the fatigue of the pilot, in an industry where flying hours per are limited by the law.
